Daily Bible Notes: July, 9th
The following daily bible notes for every day of the year, are taken from six public domain sources:
- "Morning and Evening" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by John H.Jowett
- "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
- "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan
- An Evening Meditation from "Searchlights from the Word" by G. Campbell Morgan
1. "Morning and Evening" by C.H.Spurgeon
Morning
Forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 103:2
It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe His goodness in delivering them, His mercy in pardoning them, and His faithfulness in keeping His covenant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as much a proof of His faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all His mighty acts, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had no deliverances ? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you had no manifestations ? Have you had no choice favours ? The God who gave Solomon the desire of his heart, hath He never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty of whom David sang, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things," hath He never satiated you with fatness? Have you never been made to lie down in green pastures?
Have you never been led by the still waters? Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the saints of old. Let us, then, weave His mercies into a song. Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus.
Let our souls give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from David’s harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever.
Evening
And God divided the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:4
A believer has two principles at work within him. In his natural estate he was subject to one principle only, which was darkness; now light has entered, and the two principles disagree. Mark the apostle Paul’s words in the seventh chapter of Romans: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." How is this state of things occasioned? "The Lord divided the light from the darkness." Darkness, by itself, is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other: a conflict which will never cease till the believer is altogether light in the Lord. If there be a division within the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division without . So soon as the Lord gives to any man light, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he secedes from a merely worldly religion of outward ceremonial, for nothing short of the gospel of Christ will now satisfy him, and he withdraws himself from worldly society and frivolous amusements, and seeks the company of the saints, for "We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The light gathers to itself, and the darkness to itself. What God has divided, let us never try to unite, but as Christ went without the camp, bearing His reproach, so let us come out from the ungodly, and be a peculiar people. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and, as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Mark 9:30-37
30 They went out from there, and passed through Galilee. He didn't want anyone to know it.
31 For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, "The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again."
32 But they didn't understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
33 He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing amongst yourselves on the way?"
34 But they were silent, for they had disputed with one another on the way about who was the greatest.
35 He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, "If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all."
36 He took a little child, and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
37 "Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, doesn't receive me, but him who sent me."
SCHOLARS IN CHRIST'S SCHOOL
"He taught His disciples."
And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God. There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee and me.
But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom, but for place. "They disputed one with another who was the greatest." And that spirit is always fatal to advancement in the school of Christ. Our petty ambitions close the door and windows of our souls, and the heavenly light can find no entrance. We turn Gethsemane into "a place of strife," and we carry our clamour even to Calvary itself. From this, and all other sinful folly, good Lord, redeem us!
They who would be great scholars in this school must become "as little children." Through the child-like spirit we attain unto God-like wisdom. By humility is honour and life.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 9th.
Holy Spirit, sanctify my common life. Help me while I earn my bread to purify my spirit! May my labour be prayer!
May all my ambitions be aspirations! May I hunger and thirst after righteousness!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
Psalms 101:6
If David spoke thus, we may be sure that the Son of David will be of the same mind. Jesus looks out for faithful men, and he fixes his eyes upon them, to observe them, to bring them forward, to encourage them, and to reward them. Let no true-hearted man think that he is overlooked; the King himself has his eye upon him.
There are two results of this royal notice. First we read, "that they may dwell with me." Jesus brings the faithful into his house, he sets them in his palace, he makes them his companions, he delights in their society. We must be true to our Lord, and he will then manifest himself to us. When our faithfulness costs us most it will be best rewarded; the more furiously men reject the more joyfully will our Lord receive us.
Next, he says of the sincere man, "he shall serve me." Jesus will use for his own glory those who scorn the tricks of policy, and are faithful to himself, his Word, and his Cross. These shall be in his royal retinue, the honoured servants of his Majesty. Communion and usefulness are the wages of faithfulness. Lord make me faithful, that I may dwell with thee, and serve thee.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.
Ephesians 4:11, R.V.
No man ever really enters the Christian ministry in the deep spiritual sense of the term, save as he receives a gift from the Head of the Church, by the Holy Spirit, which perfectly equips him for the work he has to do.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth.
1 Corinthians 8:1
Two ways of life are here contrasted - the way of puffing up, and the way of edifying; the way of inflation, and the way of building; the way that tends to swift destruction, and the way of permanence. The contrast is peculiarly Biblical, and goes back to Habakkuk, and the difference between the righteous living by faith, and the puffed-up moving toward destruction. The arresting note is Paul's contrast between knowledge and love, as he distinctly affirms that the former puffs up, while the latter edifies. Is knowledge therefore wrong? By no means. He had just said: "We know that we have all knowledge," in the matter under discussion, that, namely, of things sacrificed to idols; and there was no hint that such knowledge was in itself harmful. The knowledge was conviction of truth that "no idol is anything," and that there is "no God but one." All such knowledge is of supreme value. When, then, does it become dangerous? The answer is self-evident. When we have pride in what we know, and allow that pride to be the inspiration of the use we make of knowledge, we ourselves, becoming puffed up, are unable to act towards others as we should. Love will condition our use of knowledge so that it becomes of service to others, and thus tends also to our own building up. The man who knows, but lacks love, is a dangerous man. The man who knows and loves, is a man who blesses wherever he comes.
Note: To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that the above material, all published before 1926 and freely available elsewhere on the internet in various formats, is in the public domain.